


Plans Within Plans

by Fiddles



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Abuse, Body Horror, Flux Buddies, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-13 19:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4535244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiddles/pseuds/Fiddles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>According to Hector’s mad ramblings, this was all “part of her Grand Plan” and the “tough girl persona” was, in fact, a facade, underneath which lied the Universe’s deadliest and most unstable War-Empress. He’d always made her sound so exciting and interesting to meet, so cruel and adventurous. For a moment, Echo wondered if she too possessed the same flair for magic as her currently-human counterpart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Echo stared at the tall, gray walls before her with mild disbelief. They were certainly big -she thought, squinting a little- and went quite some way before culminating into a ceiling. The only problem was that it all seemed depressingly finite. She’d recently been given to believe that the dimension built to contain her and her partner in crime would closely resemble something of an endless void, albeit with a floor and crappy furniture. Three hours and one needlessly complicated tutorial on how to use the Portal later, she was standing in a large but overall uninteresting room, aggressively groaning in boredom. She paused for a while, wondering if she might be able to hear things from the other side. Perhaps if she was quiet enough, she’d be able to eavesdrop on herself -her _other_ self- scheming against conniving enemies, casting world-shattering spells, assembling her own army of witches and magical plants, starting wars, leveling cities on a whim and –Echo’s favourite- channeling the powers of Death himself through her own body. The woman had already awakened long-forgotten primal spirits, punched holes through the fabric of spacetime, managed to bend nature to her will, crafted a large assortment of protective charms, fought and defeated all manner of demons, dark lords and eldritch monstrosities, recruited several box-related, mystical creatures as her minions, magically augmented her body to transform into a killing machine at will and discovered a whole new kind of magic to play around with whilst her chain of restaurants dominated the international market. All this was supposed to be just the beginning for her and her long journey towards world domination. And the most mind-boggling bit, the bit that kept Echo up at night -screams and rasping voices notwithstanding- was that she never used it. Kim had gathered all this power and influence, but did nothing _with_ it and just kept getting **_more_ **. According to Hector’s mad ramblings, this was all “part of her Grand Plan” and the “tough girl persona” was, in fact, a facade, underneath which lied the Universe’s deadliest and most unstable War-Empress. He’d always made her sound so exciting and interesting to meet, so cruel and adventurous. For a moment, Echo wondered if she too possessed the same flair for magic as her currently-human counterpart.

A growing ringing in her ears snapped her back into reality, as she squirmed and raised her hands to her temples, visibly in pain. She hated it when he did that.

  
“WHaT iS TAKing yOu So LoNG!??” rasped a distorted voice. Echo panted irritably as it gradually resonated itself into focus.

“How many times have I told you, **_enough_** with the _telepathy crap!_ ” she growled, already sensing the coming migraine.

“YOu’rE wAsTinG vaLuable tIMe oF whIch wE hAvE LiTtlE” came the reply, though it didn’t do anything for the searing headache.

“Stop messing around with your stupid little toys and tell me what you want.” She gnarred, punching the nearest wall. A few tiny tentacles hissed excitedly at the new prospect.

“My _tOys_ cOnSIsT **_EnTiRelY_** oF SopHisTiCAtEd aPpArATuS aND HiGh-EnD FuTurIStiC EqUiPmEnT WhIcH yoUR MinD CoUldn’T eVEN BeGIn tO FaTHoM” the voice retorted, in the most irksome tones it could manage. Echo was under the growing suspicion that he did it on purpose. “I SugGEsT YoU sTOp mOCkinG ThINgS yOu DoN’T UnDerSTanD ANd GeT oN wITh YoUr GiVEn TAsK”

Her eyes grew wider with that last sentence, wider and angrier. For an instant the pupils seemed to be swallowed up by something else, something _darker._ “ ** _LET’S MAKE SOMETHING CLEAR._** **_YOU DON’T GET TO ORDER ME AROUND LIKE A COMMON PET, MEATBAG._** ” she boomed, as the air around her grew sharper “ ** _I’M NOBODY’S PLAYTHING. I AM THE LIVING EMBODIMENT OF ALL YOUR WORST FEARS. FEARS YOU DIDN’T EVEN KNOW YOU HAD. AND YOU DO NOT WISH TO INCUR MY WRATH._** ” The patch of flux twitched under the sudden drop in temperature, suckered tentacles writhing in agony.

“Oh I bEG To dIFfER”

A surge of electrical current discharged itself across her body, arcing around the room and rebounding when it reached the walls. Echo let out an ear-piercing shriek, her shaking hands clawing at her chest. The flux jolted under her skin, while flailing coils of taint sprang out from her torso and screeched helplessly.

“YoU Had bESt REmEmbER” he began, as the shocks punctuated his every word “WhO iT wAS tHAt MAdE yOU. ANd wHO iT Is that cONtrOLs yOU”

“ ** _GO SUCK A_** _n a_ ss Lalnable” she managed, collapsing to the floor as the current slowly dissipated.

“YoU ShoUlD FeEL fORtUnAtE tO bE WOrKinG fOR SomEOnE sO GEnEroUs As MYsElF. aNOtHEr eMPlOYeR mIgHT NOt HaVE BeEn As tOLeRAnT aS i.” he said, as Echo wheezed for breath “nOW fINiSh ThE jOB bEfORE I fInISh yOU”

Echo didn’t answer that, didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. Instead she staggered up to her feet when his voice trailed off and the noises faded. Dark smoke coiled around her, as her charred flesh healed itself back to normal. She was angry. Well, that might not be the best word to describe how she currently felt; angry came with the job requirements, it was par for the course. Perhaps a better one would be angry _-er_.

Furiously spinning around, she punched the wall behind her with a deafening thud and enough force to topple a mountain. A few glowing cracks formed where her fist connected, torn rifts in the fabric of spacetime. Echo took a few steps back in astonishment. How had she just done that? Hector told her that the boundaries of this dimension were impenetrable, that the walls were weaved solid from fractured timelines and collapsing universes. Yet here she was, marveling at the florescent, yellow light which slowly poured through the cracks. She stared at her flux-ridden hands and as she did, a plan began to hatch in the darkest recesses of her mind. A plan which Lalnable would not anticipate, a plan to get revenge. She took a few more steps back and ran at the wall, punching it with all her might. Sharp waves of pain spread through her fist, but Echo ignored them. She just gritted her teeth and punched harder. Around her the smoke had stuck to the walls like tree sap, growing darker and more vibrant with every second. It started oozing a viscous, thaumic slime that sloshed sluggishly around her feet, though Echo barely noticed. She just kept on punching, with increasing speed. The thudding grew louder and louder, as it boomed across the room. It seemed to invigorate the flux, bringing back memories of long-forgotten conflicts and ancient wars to its timeworn hive-mind. The drumming before battle, the rising adrenaline of bloodlust and the grisly massacre that usually followed. Every punch jolted it back to life, shaping it into something big and hungry. Fangs protruded from the walls, followed closely by several sets of thorny legs. Strange creatures were emerging from the flux, woken from their slumber by the call for battle. They buzzed threateningly as the knee-deep slime congealed into small lumps around the floor. Venomous fireflies swarmed around them, testing newly-acquired stingers on the slimes’ gelatinous bodies.

Echo only stopped when the flux had completely covered the wall in front of her, extending seeking tendrils through the luminous cracks. She grinned a terrible grin and walked back to the portal. She had had enough. He could try anything he liked, but the Flux would persevere. Sure it would take some time before it reached a compatible plane of existence, but when you’ve got an infinity ahead of you, a few eons don’t seem like much. Echo stepped on the featureless block and waited as her surroundings were slowly replaced by the shadows of the Dark. She’d play along for now, quietly biding her time until the opportunity arose. But sooner or later he’d slip and when he did, she’d be there to push him off the proverbial -and literal- cliff.


	2. Chapter 2

Hector rummaged around the dark for the power cell in embarrassed silence. He’d been meaning to fix the generators for a while now, but every time he tried a thing popped up and then another and another, to the point where he’d considered using his victims’ corpses as energy sources. It would certainly render blackouts like this less frequent he thought, flashlight clenched between his teeth, though he dreaded to think of the many issues that might arise from such an approach; the blood, for one thing, would make him look very unprofessional. Mad scientists -or at least those who took themselves seriously- were expected to engineer the perfect aesthetic equilibrium for any and all of their secret labs or underground lairs. Not only did the blood splatters have to blend seamlessly with the furniture, they also had to be groomed properly and kept fresh to give off that “recently deceased horror movie protagonist” feel. Too many body parts on the ceiling and you’d have to walk around with an umbrella in one hand, too few jars with funny-looking lasagna in them and no one would respect you enough to listen to your monologuing. His hand brushed past a small, glass cylinder, which then rolled merrily across his desk. That’d be it, he thought, unless of course he’d mistaken high-end laboratory equipment with his personal collection of uncommon nuclear weapon containers again. He grabbed the small device and examined it carefully. Wires, circuitry, the hint of a metallic taste in his mouth. Yep, this was definitely the power cell. Taking the torch out of his mouth, Hector turned to look for the main console, though with little success. The Darkness had already begun to cluster around him, growing thicker and harder with every moment. He’d need to hurry, significantly so.

Gritting his teeth, Hector waded through the dark, pushing back against semi-solid shadows until he reached a wall. He could tell by the claw marks and bloody hand prints that he was right next to the console, though if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t live to regret it. Keeping one hand pressed against the wall, he ran at the direction of where he hoped it would be, as the light from his torch seemed to be getting dimmer and dimmer. Menacing figures flickered in and out of existence before him, shadows stretched themselves around his body while shifting outlines of hands slithered across his arm. They’re waking up, he thought, and judging by the way he was hallucinating about hundreds of direwolves dribbling green acid, they were also very hungry. A cold, metallic surface connected sharply with his knee, bringing a somewhat sudden stop to his aimless sprinting. Never before had Hector been so glad to be feeling so much pain. After struggling to right himself, Lalnable hastily yanked out a few circuit boards and dug into the wiring. Even now the Dark’s most dangerous manifestations remained largely dormant, though they too were beginning to notice his presence with growing interest. Each breath he took was like a raging cicada next to their incorporeal ears, each heartbeat a wailing siren. Even the tiniest of movements produced an insufferable amount of noise and activity. It unsettled them, disturbing the deadly silence which they’d grown so used to. Several adrenaline-infused moments of muffled swearing and amateur rewiring later, Hector had finished plugging the power cell and was frantically screwing everything else back on. He was running out of time. Numerous sets of multi-coloured eyes blinked at him angrily, whilst a deep, rising growl echoed in the distance. Sweat trickled down his forehead as he stabbed at the keyboard, desperate to force the power back on. “SYSTEM. RESTART. INITIATED.” Announced a robotic voice, though it did nothing to calm the shaking in his hands.

“Hurry up you over-glorified tin canist-“ Hector shouted, pausing mid-sentence. He was certain someone had just called out his name.

“̰͙̹̬̏̏̓̈́ͅ _H̵̥ͪ̉̏̌̍E̮̰̰͍̤͂ͣ́̐́E͕̳̹͖͆ͥ̌̍E̵̝̳̩̠͒̎ͮ̑̂E̡̜̱̜̜͖̰̠̻͗̐͂̉̽ͯ̂Ẽ̽ͭͤͪ͂ͦͯͦ_ _҉_ _̼̖͉̱̙̖͜E̵̺͊͝E̤ͣ̆ͪ̍̌̍ͅEͦ̋̓̓ͤ͏̺̤͓͎̣̤̖͡Ę̟͙̦͇͉̆͛̿͘C͖͇̣̥̟̮̩̜̒̔̏̓͌T̘̭̘̞̾͗̍ͥ͛͡O̙͖͂ͧ̔̐ͧ̍ͨǑ̢̘̬͌ͥͥͬ͋́͘Ộ̫̖̳̫̠̋ͤR͋̀_ ̢̱̣ͩ́”͍͎̻͎̍ͪ̈ͣ̉ͤ͗ͧ   came a rasping snarl. They were awake. Making very slow and careful movements, he turned to face the Dark. Before his eyes stood the Universe’s (currently) most feared entity; nothing. Not nothing as in “Ooh there’s nobody there”, but as in empty and devoid of everything. The Nothing, if you will. A Darkness so complete that it seemed to vacuum everything else inside itself, so ancient that it’d developed an intelligence of its own, so terrible that the very name required capitalization. And this was the exact Darkness Hector was currently staring directly at. If, at this point, there was any sanity left in him, he’d probably lose that too.

"̃͂ͩͨ͗̍ͣ͏̩̘ **J** **҉** **̡͝O͜I̶̡N̡͢͠  U̶͢S͢ ̨͡͏H͝͡Ȩ̛͢C͏̡T̵͝O͟R͘"** they boomed **_JO̡O͠͏O͢͡I̸͡IIII̧͡NN ̴̨U͘U̷U͏U͢U̢̨U͏U̴̡Ş͟S̨_**

 

Lalnable was paralyzed, unable to move away from the gaping void. They must have grabbed him, because he was suddenly hovering in the air.

"̠̞̜̝͙̫͍̞̗́̍́̈́̋͒̅͜͝ **H̷͎̮̥͖͍̊ͦ̓͂͝E̶̗̗ͦ̽̓́̐̋̑E̵̗͚͚̿̅̄̆́͜͠E̐̑͏̭̖ͅC̥͓͚̱͒̽̈́͒ͫ̉̒̅͠T̶̙̙ͫͫͧ̓̉̀̈̒̕O̖̲̻̠͕̫̜̿̿ͮͩͪŔ͚̪̱̘͔͎͇̞̽ͧ͗ͭ͋͞.̵͕̗̂ͩ̄͂̆ͬ͝ ̸̨̤̖͉̫͈ͧ̊ͮ͌ͦ͠J̸̷̗̣̍ͤ̅̈́ͩ͞O̡̧̙̞̖̫͈̻ͥ̊ͬ̍ͬͭ̉͟O̵̮̟ͤ̃̎ͣÒ̢͕͌͡O͚ͦ͊̒ͭ̎̉ͣͯ̀̕Ơ̶̵̘̲͓̣̜̲̥̖̾ͮ̀O̐̂** **҉** **̡͙Ï̡̛̟͖͖̱̞̖͋ͮ̋͒̽̚Ȉ̟̲̉͘Ņ̵̯͑̈̅͝ ͎͉̪̱̖͙̳̅͆̒̌̽͌̈́͗͑͝͝U̡̨͎̤͔͍̙͒̀̍ͩͮ͑̒ͩỤ̞͓͈͍̿̿͐̏́͟͢U̪͓̤̞̻̩̘ͧ̊ͯ͞U̻̰̬̭̦͔͂Ư̧̭̱̠͓̟̟̾̎ͩ̎̓͆͐̉̒̀U̵̯͇̘̲̭̬̖̽͘S͑** ̘̟͔ͨ̾́̓͂͘͞"͂͌̔̐̋͏̵̙̣͉͇͞  they screamed, rapidly growing more discordant. He was being pulled closer, dragged toward them by an unseen force.

 

 

**_~~"̵̵͍͉̩̘̙͎ͤ̅͒̃̊ͣ̊ͮͨ̐ͩ̅̅̀͐̍ͧ̂̍́͠J̽̽ͮͦͪ̂͏͏̮̠̗̼̹̲̦̖͚̦̖͖̼̠͎͎ͅO̸̡̜̗̭̝͙͔̣̟̳̲̭͑́̂̓̊̇̈́̓̓̄͞͠Ô̶̩̯̖͓̪̼̠̗̪̰͓̱̻͚͆ͦ͛ͦ̐̀ͫ͐ͯͤ͆͑͛̑̒͡O̶̧͔͉͍͓ͧ̓̉͊̽͘O͂̇ͨ̿͐ͨ͆ͥ̔ͬ̎̾͌̾ͫͭ̒̀͏̴͔͔̣̝̞̜͎̺̱̩̩͜Ǒ̘̝̫̫̯͙̬̥̖̼̤͕͖͙͉͕̄ͯ̑̒͌ͪ̒͢͝͝O̸̅ͤ͆̇ͩͭ̾~~ _ ** **_~~҉~~ _ ** **_~~̰̤̺̜͔̰͍̺̹̰͕͉̟͕̞̩͎Ṍ̢̺̗̻̗̣̱̪͖͈͍̺͇̗̤̜̄̍ͮ̈́͑̐͟͞ͅO̢̦̙͓̱͍͇̬͖͙̲ͯͣͦͤͨ̅ͫ͑ͦ̇̊́̊̄̆̂̀Ơ̘̜̻̖͕̖͓̥̩͍͈͒͂͐̈́ͬ͊̓͊̅ͧͦ͗̉ͦ̓̾̕O̵͓̫̙͖͖͖͙̱̯̙̍̅̿̈́̄̋ͬͯͬ̎̇͆̑̈͌͑͆͋̚Í̷̎̆ͨ̽̓̀ͫ͗ͪ~~ _ ** **_~~҉~~ _ ** **_~~̷̙̟̖͕̲̖̯̙̹̫̝̀Ị̷̧̻̠̝̤̥̠̥̭̠̰̘͉͙̬̫̲̌̉ͬͫ̎ͤ̈́̈́͒Į̸͎̳̮̬̯̫͇͚͚̳̬͍̥̠͈̅́̔̐̎ͧ̒̈̽͋̔͝ͅȈͪͨͦ͂͌̂̑̾̔͂ͯ͟͏̡͍͍̜͖͇̼͔͖͍̱̼̗̝̭͙͖I̡̢̧̭͍͖̭͇̞̠̤͓̹̗̻ͦ̋͂̐̓̓̍̃̄͠N̴̨̹̖͙̪̞̦̩̟̤̫̭̜̎ͯ̆̇̇̇̒̽ͬ̾̀͢͡~~ _ ** **_~~  
~~ _ ** **_~~̶̛ͨ͌̅͒ͥͧͬͨ̎̉̉ͣͬ̀̔͗̚͏̠͍̩̹̖U̢̢̠͓̣͖͕͚͍̳̗͉͑̒͌ͩ̍ͮ͑ͩͤͭͦͪ̈́̀͟Ụ̡͙̥͙̜̦̬̼͖̹͉̦̳̼ͣ̽͋̈́̔͌̾̽͒̓̚͘͜͠ͅU̡͐̉̿̀͛̎͛̽͂͐̈ͣ̀͑̿́̾͜͏̡̙̟̝̟̩͕͎̕U̴̲̣͔̱̮̪̐ͦͯ̂̒̀͑̑͊̂̒ͧ͟͠ͅU̦̞̙͕͍̜̣͕͍̟̠̲͖̞̘̬͑ͩ̃̚͘͡͡͡͝Ư̼̞̣̠͍͈̙̤̪̘͍͚̝̩̜̻̰̦̎ͥͥ͒͋̓͛ͭͣ̇́̽ͮͭͥͩ̕Ū̶̯̥͙̺͇͋̀͑ͧ̃̏U̵͖̰̦̠͉͖̬̐̄ͨͤ̅̑ͭ̕͢U̵̧̢̳̲̥͈̗̳̟͙͚͕̟̣̖̳̲̗͆̐̽̆ͤ̉̓̄͑Ư̵̲̜̰̗ͥ̏̉͑͛̀̈́̓͂̐̈͟͝U̖̹̙̣̣̿ͬͦ̐ͥ͂̂̏̀́͜Ư̸̶͍͕̯͎̘̜̺͙̹̭͍̩̙͕̤̐̿ͬͤ͐͝͝Ṳ̶̷̴̯̞̪̼̦͓͚̼̣̞͖̦̰͓̦̿̾͐̌ͤ́̒͋ͅƯ̧͖̜͎̥̳͉̞̰̫͙̭̩̓̀ͯͣ̍͂ͨͪ̓̔͗̋̀͝ͅͅ-͉͇̗̭͔͇̗̖̤͋ͬ́͂ͪͫ̓̀́͝"̸̶̶̢̭̼͈̱̦̯͓̤̻̣͈͓͍͈̃̐͑̽́͆̄́͐ͅ~~ _ **

**__ **

 

A flash of white light scorched his retinas as rows of ceiling panels switched on with a satisfying “kcht”. Lucent waves of photons rushed to his aid, causing Hector to be dropped back on the ground. The Dark shifted and condensed into a shrinking, amorphous mass in the center of the room. Hector stared as they tore themselves small, mouth-like wounds and black, pupil-less eyes. He watched with horror as they screeched and screamed in agony, beams of light burning smoking holes through their body. Thick, crimson blood oozed from his ears. It was getting harder to breathe, his surroundings becoming blurred, unfocused. He tried to move but found he couldn’t, unsure whether that was because of them, or simply out of fear. Hector struggled against the slow numbness, though he could already feel it taking over. The Darkness flared up, reduced to a blaze, then embers, then mere cinders. It let out a final, chilling shriek, before vanishing into nothingness. Finally safe, he allowed himself the luxury of passing out, though not too close to the giblets. The power was back on.


End file.
